I am 80yrs. old and need knee replacement. I am concerned about anesthesia? What to do?

Morton, check with your orthopedic doctor to see if you could have the gel injections in your knee instead of having knee replacement surgery. Why I mentioned this is because rehab after surgery isn't easy. As we get older, it takes us much longer to recover. And I would also be worried about the anesthesia.

My Dad was in his late 80's when he went to an orthopedic doctor and as soon as Dad sat in the chair the doctor immediately was talking about surgery and wanted to schedule him ASAP. My Dad stood his ground and refused to sign up for surgery. We didn't like the doctor, as it was surgery and nothing else.  Seriously??

In fact, the chiropractic doctor across the hall from my office said if my Dad starts talking about surgery, he wants to see him immediately as this chiropractor has dealt with rehab knee surgeries with the elderly.   He wanted to talk my Dad out of surgery.

Get a second opinion if you can.

That’s what I had when I had my hip replaced. I think they call it “twilight sleep”. It was a spinal. I was fully awake by the time I left the operating room and didn’t remember a thing about the surgery. I also didn’t have the awful nausea from anesthesia. The injection itself was uncomfortable but in the long run, I’ve heard it’s safer.

The best one to ask is truly your doctor who knows you and your health history.